Adjustment arrangements for a doctor blade which extends transversely across an ink trough to apply printing ink to an ink roller are well known. Usually, these adjustment arrangements include adjustment screws which pass through threaded openings in the trough or a holder for the printing ink.
Arrangements of this type have been described in the literature, see, for example, German Pat. No. 341,272, and are in daily use. They require manual adjustment of the various adjustment screws. It has also been proposed to provide a remote-control arrangement to adjust the screws by means of motor control--see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,393. A control console controls an electric motor which, by means of adjustment screws and gear coupling-which, under emergency conditions can be manually operated--and coupled to the adjustment screws which engage the doctor blade, to adjust the position of the doctor blade in respective zones with respect to the ink roller. The arrangement described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,393, for example, is an integral part of the machine. It is not possible to add such a remote control system to an existing printing ink supply arrangement which, originally, was intended for manual operation. The ink zone screws are commonly journalled with the adjustment shafts in a common housing. Consequently, the lateral distances of the various adjustment screws are predetermined and cannot be matched to the distances of the adjustment screws, where they are threaded through the housings of the respective troughs in various types and makes of printing machines.